An Unusual Prisoner
by L.Hawk
Summary: While cruising through space, Enterprise encounters a smuggling ship with one unusual human and two known fugitives. Takes place before their journey into the expanse.
1. Chapter 1

Captain Archer was sitting in his ready room, going over some PADDs when the companel buzzed. He pushed the button to activate it. "Go ahead."

Hoshi's voice came through "Sir, a unidentified ship is on an intercept course."

The captain frowned. "I'll be right there." He stood up, but left the PADDs on his desk. He could come back to them later. He strode across his ready room and pressed the door button. He stepped out onto the bridge. He walked up behind Lieutenant Reed. "What kind of ship is it?"

Reed looked down at his sensor screen. "Some sort of cargo vessel, Sir, not from Earth."

Captain Archer turned to T'Pol. "Do you recognize it?"

T'Pol looked at the approaching ship through her scope. She frowned. "It appears to be an Klingon vessel from several centuries ago, though it has been modified extensively with technology from many different species."

Archer nodded. Then asked "Speed?"

"Warp 2.7," Hoshi answered.

"Sir," Malcolm interjected, "I don't think they've picked us up yet"

The captain took in this information and asked "Time to intercept?"

"At least four hours Sir," Ensign Mayweather replied.

"Well keep an eye on it" said the captain "and tell me if it changes speed or course" and with that he headed back into his ready room.

Meanwhile, aboard the approaching vessel, Jaya was pouring over some charts that were laid out on the course table, which was on the bridge. He looked up and called out to Worev, who was at the helm, "We'll be coming to an asteroid field in about an hour. Have the sensors picked it up yet?"

Worev looked down at he screen "I don't think so. Do you think we should steer though or go around?"

Jaya turned to the center of the bridge "Captain?"

The captain ran his hand along the ridges of his forehead thoughtfully. He looked at Jaya. "Which way is quicker?"

Jaya frowned. "I don't know Sir."

The captain, in a dangerously calm voice, said, "Then find out which way is quicker and go that way."

Jaya grabbed his communicator from the table. He spoke into it, "K'Los, get up here, I need your help."

Down in the workroom, K'Los heard the message. He sighed and grabbed his pen and pad. He called to Nova "Come on, let's go," and headed toward the ladder. Nova followed him obediently like a dog. As his assistant, that was her job. K'Los swept along at a dizzying pace and climbed the ladder quickly and easily. The climbing didn't come so naturally to Nova and her braid swung wildly between her horns as she scrambled franticly after him.

When they got to the bridge, Jaya was franticly tracing routes on his map. He looked up as they approached the course table "Oh, you're here Good. K'Los, I need your help with this."

K'Los nodded. "I know as much. What seems to be the problem."

Jaya jabbed his fingers at a point on the map. "This asteroid belt is directly in our path."

K'Los bent over. "The logical course of action would be to go around it."

Jaya nodded "But not necessarily the fastest."

The captain interjected. "You need to find whether going though the asteroid field at full impulse or going around it at warp 2.8 would be faster."

K'Los leaned down and began his calculations. Occasionally he would murmur some simple addition to Nova and she would figure out the sum and murmur it back to him. In this way they quickly completed the calculations.

"Even if we were to continue at warp 2.8 and burn out the engines after going around, very illogical, we still wouldn't be in time to make the rendezvous. If we went though at full impulse, accounting for not going strait due to the asteroids and the time it would take to fix our course we could still make our rendezvous if we travel at warp 2.8 for the last 10,000 km of the trip, but if we go though we expose our selves to more danger from…"

"Enough," barked the captain, "We go though."

K'Los nodded respectfully, despite the fact that he knew it was more dangerous, and therefore illogical. He had learned it was even more illogical to argue with the captain.

Captain Archer was back in his ready room again, looking over the PADDS of some senor readings they had taken earlier, when the companel beeped. He pressed the button and Hoshi's voice came through. "The alien ship has dropped to impulse."

"I'll be right there." He left the PADDs on his desk and headed onto the bridge. When he got there, T'Pol was looking through her scope. He asked her "Any idea why?"

T'Pol didn't look up from the scope as she answered, "They appear to have entered an asteroid field."

Hoshi interjected, "We're in visual range"

Archer replied, "Put it up." A visual of the space ahead filled the screen. In the distance they could just barely make out a distant asteroid field. "Magnify" said the captain, careful to keep his voice in check. The screen jumped and zoomed in on just the asteroid field. They could now make out a small ship darting between the asteroids. "Speed?" Captain Archer asked to the bridge in general.

It was Ensign Mayweather who answered "They're going about 2 million kph," he paused for an moment before continuing "That's about 2/3 impulse Sir."

The captain replied almost snappishly, "I know that Ensign."

Hoshi interjected "They're going to destroy their ship."

Travis chuckled "Not if they have a good pilot."

Lieutenant Reed squinted at the ship on the monitor and cocked his head in his usual suspicious fashion, "Good pilot or not," he said, "they're certainly in a hurry to get somewhere."

"They may not have detected us yet," said T'Pol calmly.

"Then why are they still heading toward us so quickly?" countered Lieutenant Reed, trying to beat T'Pol at her own game by using logic.

"The shortest distance between two points…" The captain murmured quietly. The rest of the bridge crew looked at him curiously. "Is a strait line" he finished quickly, out loud this time.

"I see" said Travis slowly, "So they might be rushing off somewhere else"

Hoshi's face lit up, "Somewhere that just happens to be on the same line as Enterprise."

"If that's the case," said Malcolm thoughtfully, "We have no idea how they'll react when they do detect us."

The captain nodded, "we'll just have to wait and see."

Hoshi interjected, "we could hail them Sir," she said

Captain Archer bit his lip pensively. "Go ahead," he finally concluded.

They were nearing the end of the asteroid field and Iris was monitoring communications, a fairly boring and routine job since hardly anyone out here contacted them, but sine their sensors couldn't detect ships until they were well into comm. range, the captain insisted someone was always listening. As they neared the end of the field Iris breathed a sigh of relief, then caught herself and tapped the panel lightly three times.

It must have worked because Worev was able to guild the ship out of the asteroid field without incident. Once they were out the captain called a dead stop. Jaya was furiously bent over, checking his instruments and the chart. After about three minutes, Jaya straitened up slowly. He took a deep breath and said, "The new heading is 248 mark 3.16," careful to phrase this as a fact and not an order, since the captain was in a bad mood because of the asteroid field.

"Set the heading," said the captain, and Worev obeyed. "Speed warp 2.72" Worev was surprised at the speed increase, but knew better than to argue with the Captain. He was just about to engage the new course when Iris interjected.

" A ship is signaling us."

The captain barked "On screen." The small screen that had been added to the bridge crackled to life as Captain Archer's face appeared. Iris started. She had not seen another human for many years.

"I'm Captain Archer of the starship Enterprise. Can we be of any assistance?"

The Captain beckoned Iris over. The ship was not fitted with a universal translator so all he could hear was English, which he did not understand.

"What did he say?" He asked her roughly.

She thought for a moment. Her English was a little rusty, but she understood "He's asking if we need help."

The captain frowned. "Can you refuse without offending him?"

"I believe so." She replied.

He nodded and gestured toward the screen. She gingerly stepped in front of the captain and looked Captain archer in the eyes. She took a deep breath then began "Thank you for your generous offer. It is greatly appreciated, however we do not need any assistance at this time." She tried to look slightly puzzled to make her performance more convincing.

Archer seemed to buy it. He replied "Of course," and cut communication. Iris let out a relived sigh and went back to her station.

T'Pol, who had been watching the communication closely, stood up as soon as the connection was severed. "They are harboring a dangerous fugitive."

Captain Archer frowned. "How do you know that?"

"I saw him on their bridge," she replied. "He is wanted for treason by the high command."

The captain was speechless for several seconds. "Are you sure?"

T'Pol raised one eyebrow. "Quite."

The captain gulped, but managed to compose himself enough to say "Briefing in 10 minutes," before storming off the bridge.

Hoshi, Malcolm and Travis exchanged concerned glances while T'Pol showed her usual Vulcan restraint and began gathering information on K'Los from the Vulcan Database. Nobody spoke.

Ten minutes later Ensigns Sato and Maywheather, Lieutenant Reed and Commander Tucker were gathered around the conference table with the captain.

Before the briefing could begin in earnest the companel buzzed. The captain pushed the button and said, "Go ahead."

A young Ensign's voice crackled over the speaker, "The alien ship has gone to warp sir," she said nervously.

"Thank you Ensign" replied the captain tersely before turning off the companel. T'Pol had shown them all available data on K'Los. The captain then asked the already implied question of his senior officers "what do we do about him?"

Trip was the first to speak up " I think we should just let him go and do notin'. He's not our criminal, and it's not our place to infear."

T'Pol countered that. "If Starfleet and the High Command are truly allies, would we not be obligated to capture him?"

Hoshi interjected, "We are within comm. range of Vulcan. We could ask the High Command."

The captain dismissed the idea at once with his usual qualms about asking for help. "We can't just call up the Vulcans and ask them what to do every time we have a problem."

Travis had remained silent throughout the conversation but now he spoke up, "There's more than one issue at stake here. That Klingon captain looked pretty fierce. I doubt he'd just hand K'Loss over to us and we don't want to make an enemy of the empire."

"I doubt the ship is an imperial cruiser," said T'Pol calmly "it is extremely old and the empire is not in the habit of employing Vulcan, or human officers."

"It may not be a war bird," replied Travis slowly, "but if a Klingon ship attacked an ECS vessel, Starfleet would send ships to back them up."

"Even a Klingon cargo ship would most likely not have a human crew member." T'Pol replied coolly "This ship is likely a smuggling vessel."

Hoshi cleared her throat. Everyone turned to look at her. She was holding a PADD tightly in her left hand. "About that human crew member," she said, "I ran her face through our facial recognition data base, as you instructed," she hesitated.

"Go on." The captain encouraged, trying in vain to keep a tinge of impatience out of his voice.

Hoshi swallowed before continuing, "I got a match, but it doesn't make any sense." She held up the PADD so they could all see it. "According to the computer, the woman aboard the ship is Iris Johnson. Escaped 21st century prisoner."


	2. Chapter 2

Every one was speechless for a minute as they digested what Hoshi and the facial recognition software were implying. The Captain was the first to react. The reached out his hand and took the PADD from Hoshi. She let him take it and watched him as he looked at the PADD for himself. The PADD showed a photo, taken with a backdrop of a measuring board as booking photos were in those days. It showed the age of the photo that the measurements were in feet and inches rather than meters. It was obviously taken before the standard adaptation of the metric system after World War Three.

He glanced below the photo. Her Rap sheet was fairly simple. All it said was Born March 11, 1994; Arrested May 22, 2008 for assaulting an officer, Escaped from police custody May 25, 2008 under unusual circumstances; Missing, Presumed dead. He supposed she would be presumed dead at 162 years old.

The thing that jumped out at him was the unusual circumstances part. He turned to Hoshi. "Find out the details of her escape." Hoshi just nodded.

Trip, who had not seen the PADD, asked the question that was on the rest of their minds. "What escape Sir?"

Archer indicated the PADD, which was now in Hoshi's hands once more. "It says there that she was last seen in May 2008, when she escaped from a police holding cell; _under unusual circumstances_." He stressed the last three words.

Trip, Travis, and Malcolm seemed to understand. T'Pol merely raised one eyebrow. Hoshi left to continue her research on Iris. Captain Archer turned to the others.

Lieutenant Reed was the first to ask the question, "That still leaves the question, what are we going to do about K'Los?"

"And Iris for that matter," added Ensign Maywheather, "She's still a criminal under earth law."

The captain closed his eyes for a second before replying, "We arrest Iris Johnson for sure." He turned to his second in command, "What do you think the high command would say to us apprehending K'Los?"

T'Pol looked at him emotionlessly. "I think they would appreciate it."

Trip, who seemed to have bowed to the inevitable conclusion that they were going to apprehend K'Los, remarked, "Besides captain, if we catch him The Vulcans'll owe us one.

The captain smiled at that "That settles it. When we make the arrest," he said clearly addressing T'Pol, "You might want to wear you official robes." She nodded. He turned to His helmsmen, "How long until the ship gets to us?"

Travis replied "About an hour and a half Sir."

He nodded. "Back to your stations" They all scattered after that, Lieutenant Reed and Ensign Maywheather to the bridge, and Commander Tucker to Engineering.

Aboard the other ship, Iris was back monitoring communications. She might not have noticed another ship signaling them such was the way her mind churned. On the earth she had left all those years ago, technology the likes of which she had seen on the human ship weren't even close to existing.

It perturbed her because it reminded her she didn't know how long she had been away from earth. With days and years traveling at different speeds on different planets, it was easy to loose track of time. The only accurate way to measure her time away would be in hours. She couldn't even measure by how old she felt because the Exzibians had kept her in a cryogenic freeze for god knows how long and the excessive amounts of Glan'rah'kor being filter had exposed her to had slowed her aging to almost zero for 100 Qo'noS years.

She thought back to her original abduction. She'd been in a police cell after attacking the officers who'd come to arrest her brother for pot possession. She'd been watching her brother sleep in the other cell. They'd been the only two prisoners there at the time. She'd been there, in the cell and then suddenly she wasn't. Suddenly she'd been aboard an alien ship; the Exzibians' ship, just like that. She now knew that transporter technology was common but she still remembered the shock of it.

The Exzibians had kept her for research purposes, using her as a lab rat. She was the first human they had kept for an extended period of time and they had run a battery of tests on her. She had befriended a young Exzibian, the equivalent of a human five year old; the girl, Eeshva was her name, had been so lonely she turned to Iris for company, and from her Iris had learned the Exzibians' language.

Her plan had been to ask them to take her back to Earth in their language and see how they reacted, but it was put on hold when they shoved her into a cryogenic container when she'd been half asleep. When she'd been pulled out, she was on what she'd assumed was the Exzibians home world, though thinking back it could merely have been one of their colonies. Once the scientists there realized she could speak their language, she was shipped off to become a slave. She was the only human, and most of the slaves were Telaxian, meaning she was an outcast. She had learned to speak the Telaxian dialect common to the slaves and had carried on as best she could, eventually gaining acceptance from her fellow slaves.

That had ended after the revolt when she got separated from the others during the battle with the stolen shuttle. She had been sent in an escape pod as had many others to rendezvous on the third moon of the sixth planet, which was a small tera-formed farming colony of the Exzibians where they could easily overwhelm the settlers, and establish a base for further revolt. Her pod had been hit and one of her thrusters had gone off line as had her navigation system, so all she could do was pray the life support didn't give out and scan for an M class planet or moon to land on. She had crashed the pod into an M class body, hoping that, against all odds, it was the rendezvous point. It wasn't and she had been quickly apprehended by Klingon guards.

She was sent to prison for a period of 100 years. She quickly picked up tlhIngan and from her fragmented memories of the trial pieced together that she had been charged with trespassing on a top secret military base and that her assumed purpose had been espionage. The prison was pumped full of Glan'rah'kor smoke to prevent aggression, though it apparently had the effect of slowing aging in humans. Most of the Klingons in the cell she was in showed great distaste for breathing it, so because she was the weakest, she was forced to sit by the vent that piped the smoke into the cell in hopes she would breath more of it in than the rest of them.

She had been released onto the streets of first city in mid-winter and quickly caught some class of cough, which ached in her breath as she wandered the streets, looking for shelter from the bitter wind. A Klingon woman Karana who ran an apothecary took her in and nursed her back to health. In exchange, Iris work in her shop and told her what stories she could remember from earth, as Karana was an amateur xenomythologest, and therefore interested in the motley collection of Greek and Roman myths she knew as well as the smatterings of Norse and Egyptian tales and the many bible stories she knew from Sunday school.

It was here she met her mate Garth who was Karana's nephew and ran with a group of Glan'rah'kor smugglers who often hid out in the apothecary. She had worked for him and born him two sons and been a good Klingon mate and she had never been happier.

She sighed and forced herself back to the present; the here and the now. She still had her two sons. And she had a place aboard this ship.

The com panel beeped. It was the earth ship again. Puzzled she turned to the captain who ordered her to put it up on the screen. She did.

Captain Archer didn't mince words. "Iris Johnson, you are hear by arrested under the jurisdiction of united earth in that you are an earth citizen and have committed the crimes of assaulting an officer and fleeing police custody. Should you fail to cooperate the use of deadly force is authorized."


	3. Chapter 3

Then T'Pol stepped forward and said in Vulcan, "K'Los, you are hear by placed under arrest on authority of the High Command on grounds that you have committed treason." She had Hoshi end the transmission there.

The captain turned to Iris and said, "Translation."

Iris nodded and said, "The other captain said that he was arresting me."

The captain frowned, "On what grounds?"

Iris looked at the floor, "Before I left my own planet, I was arrested for assaulting an officer of the law. They think I escaped from their prison."

The captain was furious, not believing that someone he trusted under his command could be guilty of such a dishonorable crime as escaping, as he practically yelled, "And did you escape?"

Iris looked him in the eyes, "Not by choice."

The captain looked into her hazel eyes and search for a lie. Finding none he inhaled, "You were weak, but not dishonorable."

Iris nodded, "There's more. The Vulcan female said she was arresting K'Los."

The captain growled, "Why?"

Iris hesitated, and K'Los stepped forward, saying, " Back on my home world, I was a member of the High Command, until I spoke out publicly against one of their decisions. Then I was branded a traitor and escaped before they could execute me."

The captain nodded and took Iris' shoulder, saying, "Signal them."

She raced to the Comm panel and began. He told her, "Tell them we are willing to negotiate the arrest."

Back on the Enterprise the Com beeped. Captain Archer took a deep breath in to steel himself before saying, "On screen." Hoshi did as she was bid.

Iris' face appeared on the screen. She said, "Our captain wishes me to tell you that he is willing to negotiate for the prisoners."

Captain Archer frowned and said, "We meet on my ship in four hours time. Tell the captain to have the prisoners with him, and no more than two guards."

They waited while Iris conferred with the captain. She stepped forward again and said, "We only meet like you say if you agree to the stipulation that you have only two armed guards in the room where the meeting is held, to make thinks equitable."

The Captain nodded, "Agreed. See you in four hours." He signaled Hoshi to cut the connection.

Lieutenant Reed was the first to speak up, "Are you sure it's a good idea, letting them have armed guards at all?"

The Captain sighed, "Almost every envoy we've had aboard this ship has brought guards with them."

The Lieutenant didn't say anything. The captain turned to T'Pol and asked, "What can you tell me about K'Los?"

T'Pol began, "He was a sub-lieutenant in the High Command when the decision was made to hide a listening station near the Klingon Border. He believed this was wrong and told the Klingon High Council of the plans. He was accused of treason but escaped before he could be tried."

Captain Archer nodded, "Is he dangerous?"

T'Pol looked back at her PADD, "There is nothing in his record to suggest that he is."

The Captain pushed a button on the arm of his chair and said, "Major Hayes, please report to the bridge. " He then turned to Lieutenant Reed, "You men are trained in hand to hand combat, right?"

The lieutenant nooded, "That's correct Sir."

"Good," said Captain Archer, "I want you to post five men in the corridor outside the conference room."

Malcolm cocked his head, "Didn't we agree to only two armed guards?"

The Captain shrugged, "Make sure their not armed."

Lieutenant Reed grinned. Just then Major Hayes stepped onto the bridge saying, "You called for me Sir."

The Captain nodded, "Do any your men have experience against Klingons?"

The Major frowned, "No sir. May I ask why?"

Captain Archer bit his lip, "Come to my ready room for a briefing." He turned to T'Pol, "You have the bridge.

T'Pol replied, "Understood."

With that, The Captain led Major Hayes into his ready room and he gestured to the chair in front of his desk, which the Major took before launching into his explanation, "A few hours ago, we detected a ship on an intercept course. We hailed them, and discovered they are harboring two know fugitives, one of which is a traitor of the High Command. The captain of the ship is a Klingon and agreed to negotiations , but only on the condition that we only have two armed guards."

The Major took a deep breath absorbing all of the information he had been given. Finally he said, "I though Klingons didn't negotiate."

The Captain sank into his chair, "According to Sub-Commander T'Pol, the ship most likely doesn't have any connection to the Klingon government. That means we don't know exactly what we're dealing with, so I need your best people on this one."

The Major stood up, "Understood Sir."

The Captain nodded, "Dismissed."

Meanwhile, on the other ship, Worev jumped up and said, "We should not negotiate. We are not weak."

The Captain stood up, "neither are we fools, now sit down." Worev looked for a moment like he was going to disobey this command but sat down. The Captain continued, "You saw their ship. They are more technologically advanced then we are, therefore it follows they have better weapons. When fighting hand to hand or blade to blade, so much rests on spirit and skill, but when fighting ship to ship, there not much you can do if they have better weapons."

Jaya, who did not speak English, frowned, "I am still confused, what is it we intend to do exactly?"

Iris sighed, "The captain told them that we are going to negotiate, but really K'Los and I are going to turn ourselves in."

Worev looked at his mother and frowned, "Why would you do such a thing?"

She looked at him, "I attacked an officer of the law. I did not even defeat him. It is the only thing to do. I cannot bring trouble to this ship."

Nova piped up, "Are we sure they have better weapons? Even if they have better technology, they still might not be armed as well as us."

Iris shook her head, "They have better weapons."

Jaya frowned, "You have not been back to your home world for a long time. How can you be sure."

Iris looked at him, "I can't. But they speak English, and their ship is the _USS_ Enterprise, they might say they're arresting me on behalf of united earth, but they have their roots in the US military."

Jaya cocked his head, "And what does that mean?"

Iris replied, "The US military was one of the biggest on earth, back when I was there and there were countries, and they always made it a point to have the best weaponry. Even when there was peace and their only missions were aid missions, they still kept developing better and better weapons. You can bet that with the technology we could see, they have some pretty intense weapons."

The captain said, "Then it is just as well we are negotiating with then and not attacking them."

This explanation seemed to satisfy Worev, who turned back to the screen he was working at and Jaya who bent back over the charts. Iris sighed and went back to the Com station. All she could do now was wait.


	4. Chapter 4

The four hours went by slowly. Lieutenant Reed had checked and double checked the guards who would be standing outside the conference room. Most of the men were apprehensive about being without their weapons, but the captain explained the situation to them, albeit not in much detail, and they understood his reasoning and were trying not to show their nerves.

Major Hayes had insisted on being one of the armed guards and had chosen CorporalMcKenzie to be his back-up. Now all they could do was wait.

Meanwhile, the crew was getting antsy. Only the senior officers and Major Hayes knew the full truth. The guards and Corporal McKenzie had been briefed to a point, but all the others knew was that they were rendezvousing with an alien vessel that had a human on board.

Back on the other ship, Iris was pacing back and forth in the small room she shared with Worev. He burst in and stormed over, grabbed her roughly by the arm and asked, "What the hell are you doing?"

She stared directly into his eyes but didn't try to pull her hand away as she said, "I am doing what is honorable and I am doing what I must."

He narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip, "Then all those year before, what were you doing them?"

She replied snappishly, "I was doing what I could. Even when I wasn't a prisoner anymore, I still had no way of getting back to earth."

He growled and shook her, "So this life you built for us was nothing more than…a…a…a"

She practically yelled, "Things were different once I met your father."

He stopped shaking her and his grip slackened. She took a deep breath in and said, "Once I met him, I…I fell in love with him. I knew then that my future lay with him, and since it was impossible for me to turn myself in, there was nothing stopping us from living our lives together. Once he died, I had you and your brother and I still couldn't go back, so I took the position the captain offered me. Now that I have the chance to do the honorable thing and turn myself in, what else can I do?"

He dropped her hand, before storming over and punching the wall. Being made of metal, it didn't even dent under his fist. He growled in frustration. She sighed; she hated seeing his hurt himself like this, but she knew from bitter experience that there was nothing she could do to stop him.

Then he turned around and came up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. She placed her hands over his and looked up at him. He said, "You make a good point. There is nothing else you can do is there?"

She could hear the chocked up emotion in his voice. She sighed and said, "No."

He squeezed her shoulders tightly before yanking his hands out from underneath hers and storming out of the room. She opened her mouth to call him back but closed it as she thought better of it. There wasn't anything left to say except goodbye, and they silently agreed to put that off until the last minute.

She sank down onto her bed. She sighed. Back on earth, she would have had trouble sleeping on a bed this hard. Now she hardly noticed how hard it was unless she took the time to really think about it, like now. In a similar way, if she had been the same as she was when she left earth, she would never have argued as she just had for turning herself in. The only reason she would have done it was if the captain convinced her it was for the good of the ship. Her time in space had changed her. It was strange to think about being around other humans again.

Back on the Enterprise Hoshi and T'Pol were sitting in the mess hall, across from each other at a small, table. T'Pol was sipping a cup of tea, while Hoshi had a cup of coffee. Hoshi was rubbing her forehead, "It doesn't make sense. "

T'Pol raised one eyebrow, "What doesn't make sense?"

Hoshi frowned, "Iris' escape. The captain asked me to look into it and I can't make heads nor tails out of it."

"What transpired?" asked T'Pol.

Hoshi looked up, "That's what I can't figure out. There was a video camera in her cell. The footage shows her sitting there and then suddenly, she's not. It's not like she just moved out of view of the camera. She practically went poof." She gestured with her hands for extra emphasis.

T'Pol took a sip of tea, "A human prisoner does not just disappear. There is certainly a logical explanation."

Hoshi frowned, "Like what?"

T'Pol thought for a moment, "A transporter could create an illusion of disappearance."

Hoshi sighed, "The transporter wasn't invented until 10 years ago. "

T'Pol raised her eyebrow again, "Perhaps not by humans, though several species had perfected it by then."

Hoshi considered this a moment, "I suppose, but humans and Vulcan's didn't make contact until over forty years after her escape…although she is out here where supposedly there are no human…" she sighed and rested her head in the crook of her arm on the table, "Nothing about this is making sense."

The two of them lapsed into silence.

Meanwhile, back in Captain Archer's ready room, Admiral Forest was speaking through the computer, "I don't know John, the High Command might not like you meddling in their affairs. "

Captain Archer sighed, "All due respect Sir, they're been trying to get this guy for years. This is a great opportunity to get on their good side."

There was a pause as Admiral Forest considered this, "What does T'Pol think of all this?"

Captain Archer replied honestly, "She's in favor of the idea, Sir."

The admiral consented, "Alright, I'll tell the high command over here. What's this I hear about a human prisoner?"

Captain Archer frowned, "Well, there was a human on the other ship, and I had Ensign Sato run facial recognition." He paused.

"And," Admiral Forrest prompted.

"There's a pretty good chance that she's Iris Johnson." Captain Archer said. He hastily added, "We'll do a DNA check as soon as she gets aboard, of course."

"And Iris Johnson is…?" the admiral asked.

The captain licked his lips, "She disappeared from a police station in a small town outside the city of Boston in 2008 and hasn't been seen since."

"And you really think this woman you're bringing aboard is her?" Admiral Forrest questioned, somewhat skeptically.

"She responded as though she was when we arrested her," said the Captain Archer almost defensively.

"Alright, I'll trust your judgment on this one Jon," said the admiral. "Contact me again when you have the results of the DNA test."

"Of course, Sir. Archer out." The captain cut off communication and sighed.

Back on the other ship, K'Los was sitting with Nova at the table in the work room. They had left the bridge once it was clear they were no longer needed. He turned to her, "Once I leave the ship, you will be required to take over my position."

She looked up at him wide-eyed, "I couldn't possibly do that."

He raised one eyebrow, "I have taught you a sufficient amount of equations to deal with any situation that might arise."

She bit her lip, "But you're so much better than me, and…" she paused to swallow.

He cut in, "I realize the situation is not ideal, but the Captain is counting on you."

She nodded. Suddenly she threw her arms around him, "I don't want you leave."

He returned the embrace almost mechanically, saying softly, "The student must someday come out from under the wing of her master."

Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, "Why do you have to go?" she asked quietly.

He sighed, "I'm a traitor to my people. I have to face that fact."

She began to cry and he began rubbing her back in slow circles as he let her cry on his shoulder, so to speak, although in actuality, her head was resting against his stomach. They stayed that way for several minutes.

The thought crossed his mind that maybe he should be preparing for his departure from the ship, but he dismissed it. He had very few possessions, so preparations wouldn't take very long at all. Besides, it was highly illogical to leave the ship with an emotionally unstable mathematician, so he stayed in the work room to comfort his apprentice, who was now his replacement.


	5. Chapter 5

Iris heart thumped as she stood in front of the door to the air lock. Even if she was sure what she was doing was the right thing, and the only option, under the circumstances, she couldn't stop herself from being apprehensive. She swallowed. She and K'Los were standing by the airlock, waiting for Jaya and Worev to bring the ship to a dead stop. The Captain was with them, as were L'Kan and Somren, who were the two armed guards the captain had chosen. The ship came to a stop with a jerk, and Iris had to brace herself against the door to keep herself from falling flat on her face.

There was a whirring sound as the connector began to extend outward from the ship, heading to connect with the human vessel. She began to pick up another sound, over that, and soon she realized it was the sound of pounding footsteps. She turned and looked over her shoulder and saw her younger son, K'Tel running toward them, carrying a spanner that he had obviously been working with. He stopped short in front of them, panting. "Is it true what Nova said? About you being arrested?"

Iris sighed and reached out, lightly running her fingers along his cheek. "It is. I am turning myself in. Or rather the captain…Well, I'm going along with it, and that's what counts."

He set is hand over hers and squeezed tightly. "What do you mean, that's what counts?"

She tried to keep her voice even. "The only honorable thing to do when you get caught committing a crime is to surrender and face your punishment, or fight to the death."

K'Tel frowned. "What crime did you commit?"

The conector clicked. The Captain cut in. "That's enough. We have to leave for the other ship now."

Iris blinked back tears and tried to smile. "Good-bye, K'Tel."

K'Tel threw his arms around her. He bit down on her ear, hard enough to draw blood. Her grip around him tightened for a moment, but she was silent. After about half a minute, she pushed him back. She patted him gently on the head. When she looked up, Worev was standing there, having come from the bridge after bringing the ship to a stop.

He stood stiffly with his hands behind his back. "Goodbye mother." He looked disapprovingly at her bleeding ear.

She nodded to him. "Goodbye, Worev."

"Enough," The Captain growled, and he stepped forward, punching in the code to open the door into the airlock. He stepped inside, and Iris followed him, casting one last glance back at her sons. K'Los was about to follow then when he noticed that Nova had followed K'Tel up from the lower levels. Seeing her there, he turned toward her and held his hand up in front of him then, split his fingers into a v shape. A second later, she returned the gesture. He turned and followed the Captain into the airlock. L'Kan and Somren followed them and once they were all inside, closed the door. With a slight hiss, the four of them were completely cut off from their ship.

The Captain opened the door into the connector, and marched through, completely silently. The door slid shut behind them on an automatic timer. They stayed in their single file line until they reached the door into the airlock on the other ship. The Captain stopped just short of it and turned around. The others looked at him expectantly. "Come together," he said gruffly.

K'Los stepped forward, and Iris moved over slightly to make room for him. L'Kan moved forward so that he was next to Somren, then both of them moved slightly closer to K'Los and Iris. The Captain gave a grunt of approval and turned around. There was a button next to a speaker mounted on the frame of the door into the opposite airlock. The Captain pushed it, and they waited with baited breath.

Meanwhile, on The Enterprise, Captain Archer, Commanders T'Pol and Tucker Major Hayes and Corporal McKenzie stood by the airlock, waiting for the other captain to arrive with the prisoners. Trip bounced nervously from foot to foot. T'Pol turned and glared at him. "Would you please stop that superfluous movement?"

Trip frowned at her. "Must be nice, never getting nervous."

T'Pol raised one eyebrow. "I have heard of many humans who were able to control their nervous impulses through various means. Perhaps you should take one of them as inspiration."

Trip ignored her and said to the group in general, "How long could it take 'em to slog across a connector?" He was ignored.

Major Hayes leaned closer to Captain Archer and quietly asked, "Are you sure this is a good idea Sir?"

Captain Archer scowled. It wasn't the first time the Major had asked him that. "Look, I know that you think this is a bad move, but it's the right thing to do, and as Captain, I'm obligated to do the right thing. And I don't appreciate you second guessing me Major."

Major Hayes took the hint and backed off with an "Of course sir."

The light that indicated that the intercom had been activated turned on, and an underlying static buzzed as everyone turned their attention to the door. The intercom continued to crackle for a minute, then turned off.

Trip looked at the Captain. "Aren't they supposed to ask fer permission to come aboard?"

The Captain frowned. T'Pol said, "The request is implicit in pushing the intercom button."

Captain Archer shrugged. "I'll go with that." Major Hayes rolled his eyes. The Captain stepped forward and pushed the intercom button on their side. "Permission granted." He then pushed the button that opened the door and let the other Captain and the prisoners come onboard.

The other Captain strode through the door and turned to look Captain Archer straight in the eyes. Iris saw the guns that Major Hayes and Corporal McKenzie were holding and looked at the floor of the ship nervously. K'Los filed in behind his Captain and stood up straight, hands behind his back, and stared at T'Pol, his face expressionless as always. L'Kan and Somren pointed their guns at Major Hayes and Corporal McKenzie.

Commander Tucker stopped fidgeting. Captain Archer cleared his throat, then said, "Welcome aboard the Enterprise."

The other Captain frowned and asked, "How is it that you are speaking my language?"

Captain Archer smirked lightly. "It's a nifty little gadget called the Universal Translator that the Vulcans helped us with. I figured negotiations would be easier if we could understand each other. Should we make our way to the conference room?"

The other Captain studied Captain Archer for a minute, then said, "Alright."

Captain Archer turned and made his way down the hallway. Everybody else followed him.

-X-X-X-X-

A/N-I'm not dead! I'm sorry I haven't updated this in forever, but I've had school and work and life and so many other cool things to watch and write about. I did come back to this though. The only other thing is the biting of the ear. It's a little bit of head cannon I invented for this story, if that makes sense, which implies that Klingon parents and children show affection by biting each other's ears. The reason Worev looks at them disapprovingly is that he thinks K'Tel is too old for something like that. I know it's not in any of the series, but think about it. In Voyager, it's made shown that Klingons show romantic affection by biting the cheeks, so this would be similar, except that it's a different type of affection, so the bite is in a different place. And as to why it's not in any of the series? How many Klingon children were ever shown, besides Alexander, who was raised for the first part of his life by a half-human mother who shunned Klingon ways and then alternately on Earth and on a human ship, where that would be considered abusive. It just seemed riht to me. Sorry about the long tirade. I hope you enjoyed it.


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